The indictment—'Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler, and Israel to the robbers? Was it not Yahweh, against whom we have sinned, and in whose ways they would not walk?'—confesses that Israel's suffering, while perpetrated by enemies, ultimately derives from covenantal infidelity. The rhetorical structure that answers its own question affirms divine sovereignty even in judgment: God permitted exile as a consequence of faithlessness. The emphasis on unwillingness to walk in God's ways suggests that exile results not from arbitrary divine cruelty but from Israel's rejection of covenant. This verse locates responsibility for exile in Israel's own rebellion while maintaining that God remains in control.

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